Uerige

The Uerige brewery is a complex of connected buildings in the Altstadt, defined by a jumble of narrow passageways, intimate niches, and varied decor that expanded over time without a formal master plan. First mentioned in a land tax registry in sixteen thirty-two, the site became a brewery in eighteen sixty-two when Wilhelm Cürten purchased the property. Cürten was a man of famously dour temperament, earning him the local nickname "uerige," meaning "grouch" in the local dialect, which eventually became the name of the establishment itself.